Oppressed Education

Tucson Unified School District banned several books relating to Mexican-American studies; was this act on purpose or done to stay within state regulations?   This is the question many Americans, of all races, are asking school officials’.  Earlier this month the Tucson Unified School District ended the 13-year-old program in an attempt to come into compliance with the heated state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies.
   According to school officials’ books will be boxed up and sent to storage, however some books will still be available in the on campus library.  Many of the books that are well know classics where banned from classrooms such as, “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years” by Tucson author Leslie Silko, Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest”, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by famous Brazilian educator Paolo Freire, “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuña, and “Chicano!: The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” by Arturo Rosales.

Within the article it stated that, “Administrators informed Mexican-American studies teachers to stay away from any units where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes.”  In a school district that was founded by Mexican-Americans and which more than 60 percent of the students come from Mexican-American backgrounds, to avoid their culture is not only insentive but an ignorant decision.  How can you not acknowledge what the Mexican American community endured but still demand their respect.  To truly become confident I believe one must know their origins.

As Bigelow, a famous author, stated “What is the Tucson school district afraid of?

Source:  http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/whos_afraid_of_the_tempest/singleton/

The Struggle we Place Upon Ourselves

  Question: Can you apply Gloria Anzaldua’s theory of border crossers and border crossing to other communities of color, such as African American?  

     Gloria Anzaldua’s theory of border crossing through the U.S. Mexican Border describes a conflict that is not addressed in the public eye from the oppressed point of view.  Border Crossers are described as aliens waiting to trespass into the United States, rather than people just in search of a better life.  Anzaldua’s investigation, with the use of cultural studies, of the emotional toll border crossers intake can relate to the African American culture in many ways.

     Within the African American culture there is one prime example of how the judgment of others can affect an entire races perception.  The constant battle between light skinned African Americans versus dark skinned African Americans is relatable to Anzaldua theory because, women in particular, “consider (themselves) inhabitants” stuck within the stereotypes based upon the color of their skin given by society.  At one point in time, light skinned African Americans were awarded more opportunities than dark skinned African Americans.  In this decade however the stigma of ones skin color is being analyzed by people of their very own race, the war is continued on by the oppressed.  

     I believe the American people are waging a war upon themselves.  As a people no matter what race, religion or ethnicity we must decide to empower ourselves first.

Photos Curiosity of: http://brownsista.com/light-skin-vs-dark-skin/

Source: Anzaldua, Gloria